Lightweight clamp and steady rest



Feb. 7, i967 w. H. WILLIAMS 7 3 LIGHTWEIGHT CLAMP AND STEADY REST Filed July '7, 1965 INUENTGFE WALL/QM H. WILL/MM?! United States Patent 3,302,910 LIGHTWEIGHT CLAMP AND STEADY REST William H. Williams, 923 W. Carroll St., Portage, Wis. 53901 Filed July 7, 1965, Ser. No. 470,016 3 Claims. (Cl. 248--47) This invention relates to a lightweight clamp and steady rest.

While a device embodying the invention may be used to hold many different types of work, it has been exemplified by illustrating one of its principal functions, which is to engage the barrel of a gun for facilitating accurate shooting by positioning the barrel from some fixed object with which the device is engaged.

In the preferred embodiment, the device comprises a pair of pivotally movable, non-metallic members made of wood or plastic with complementary convex and concave bearing surfaces accommodating relative pivotal movement without requiring any type of pintle connection. The respective members are grooved to position an encircling elastic means which holds them in assembly and accommodates their pivotal movement and biases them into engagement with the work. Complementary transverse channels fitting the work may be provided in the jaw portions of the respective members.

I am aware that steady-rest clamps of the general form illustrated are known. However, the device herein disclosed has important advantages in that it is light in weight and requires no pintle, the same spring which provides bias into clamping position also serving to retain the parts in assembly, The device may be instantly folded or collapsed for transportation or storage and may be erected with equal facility, due in part to the absence of any pintle requiring manipulation. If the device is made of the preferred materials indicated, there is no problem of rust and little or no clatter or noise when the device is being transported.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective showing the device as it appears in use.

FIG. 2 is a similar view fragmentarily illustrating a different mode of use.

FIG. 3 is a view of the device in front elevation.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the device in side elevation.

FIG. 5 is a view showing in front elevation and in mutually separated position the component parts of the spring.

The complementary members 6 and 8 are identical in an allochiral sense except for the fact that in an intermediate fulcrum area the member 6 has an arcuate transverse channel at 10, whereas the member 8 has a transversely semi-cylindrical boss 12 which fits the channel and is of greater arcuate extent. The members have fiat faces and may be superposed in substantial registry. Each member includes integrally a leg portion 14 and a jaw portion 16 and has a shallow transverse groove 18 on its outer surface between the fulcrum arm between the jaw portion and the leg portion.

The respective jaw portions have complementary workengaging surfaces 20 interrupted near the free ends 22 of the jaw portions by transverse work-positioning grooves 24 which, in the position of the parts shown in FIG. 3, may be associated to provide a transverse bore 26 to receive and clampingly retain a gun barrel or fishing rod or the like.

A spring 30 which desirably takes the form of a rubberband or other elastomeric circlet, encircles the members 6 and 8 and is positioned by being engaged in the shallow groove 18 as clearly appears in FIGS. 1 to 4.

Assuming a rubberband or the like is used to constitute the resilient encircling means 30, a sufficient number of turns thereof will be used so that the jaw portions 16 will be biased toward the closed position of FIG. 3. When the normally divergent lower free end portions 32, 34 of members 6 and 8 are manually forced toward each other, the members 6 and 8 pivot by relative fulcrumming movement betweenthe boss 12 and the recess 10, this being accommodated by the fact that the recess 10 is more shallow than boss 12, being of less arcuate extent, although the bearing surfaces of the boss and recess desirably have the same radius.

The relative pivotal movement of members 6 and 8 against the bias of the elastomeric spring 30 will open the jaw portions 16 to receive work to be held between the clamping surfaces or in the registry channels 24. Thus the device may be engaged with the gun barrel 36 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (or with a fishing rod or other work). Release of the pressure used to open the jaws will permit the spring to function to clamp the jaws upon the work. The device is sufficiently light so that it may be left clamped to a gun barrel. It does not in any way interfere with manipuation of a gun or the like with which it is clampingly engaged. When it is desired to steady the gun for shooting purposes, the free lower ends 32, 34 of the clamp portions of members 6 and 8 may be made to rest on a fiat surface 38 as shown in FIG. 1 or may be engaged with a fence post 40 or the like as shown in FIG. 2. The wide divergence of the leg portions 14 of the members 6 and 8 not only provides a stable support but is advantageous to permit these leg portions to straddle a fence post as in FIG. 2. It will be noted that any thrust in a vertical direction as in FIG. 1 or laterally outwardly as in FIG. 2 will not disengage the members 6 and 8 from the work but, to the extent that the members are separated at all, will in crease the bias of the spring 30 to hold the work more tightly.

While the members 6 and 8 may be made of any appropriate materials, it is preferred that they be made either of wood or plastic so that there will be no rusting and no noise in transportation and very little weight.

It is a great convenience to be able to separate or to fold the members 6 and 8 and to restore them to operative position without manipulating a pintle. Removal of, or application of, the elastomeric spring 30 requires but a moment. Thus, the members 6 and 8 may be completely separated as shown at FIG. 5 if desired. However, they may also be folded upon each other into fiat superposition without even removing the elastic band 30. As will be evident, they will register fully when so folded, with the single exception of a slight projection of the boss 12. By way of example and not by way of limitation, it may be noted that if the members 6 and 8 are proximately three-quarters of an inch in thickness, the bearing provided between boss 12 and the complementary channel 10 will be sufficiently stable for all practical purposes and yet will readily accommodate the transverse relative pivotal movement required to fold members 6 and 8 upon each other.

I claim:

1. A steady-rest clamp comprising a pair of elongated generally flat members each of which has opposing faces and inner and outer margins, said members being disposed in a common plane and having leg portions mutually spaced from each other in said plane, integral means providing pivotal engagement between the inner margins of said members, said means comprising a transverse channel in the inner margin of one of said members and a complementary rib on the inner margin of the other member and pivotally engaged in said chan- "ice nel, the inner margins of the respective members having transversely channeled jaw portions at the ends thereof remote from said leg portions, and resilient tension means encircling said members between their said jaw portions and the pivotally engaged rib and channel portions, said tension means biasing the jaw portions toward each other and holding the rib engaged in the channel.

2. A steady-rest clamp according to claim 1 in which at least one of said members has means for positioning said resilient means.

3. A steady-rest clamp according to claim 1 in which said members are fiat strips of wood having on their outer margins transverse grooves in which said resilient means in engaged.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Schwartzberg 248-316.3

Peskulich 24844 Coupanger 248-47 Walden 248173 X LOeb 248-47 X Bosland 248291 X CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary EIalTli/ll.

R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A STEADY-REST CLAMP COMPRISING A PAIR OF ELONGATED GENERALLY FLAT MEMBERS EACH OF WHICH HAS OPPOSING FACES AND INNER AND OUTER MARGINS, SAID MEMBERS BEING DISPOSED IN A COMMON PLANE AND HAVING LEG PORTIONS MUTUALLY SPACED FROM EACH OTHER IN SAID PLANE, INTEGRAL MEANS PROVIDING PIVOTAL ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE INNER MARGINS OF SAID MEMBERS, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A TRANSVERSE CHANNEL IN THE INNER MARGIN OF ONE OF SAID MEMBERS AND A COMPLEMENTARY RIB ON TH E INNER MARGIN OF THE OTHER MEMBER AND PIVOTALLY ENGAGED IN SAID CHANNEL, THE INNER MARGINS OF THE RESPECTIVE MEMBERS HAVING TRANSVERSELY CHANNELED JAW PORTIONS AT THE ENDS THEREOF REMOTE FROM SAID LEG PORTIONS, AND RESILIENT TENSION MEANS ENCIRCLING SAID MEMBERS BETWEEN THEIR SAID JAW PORTIONS AND THE PIVOTALLY ENGAGED RIB AND CHANNEL PORTIONS, SAID TENSION MEANS BIASING THE JAW PORTIONS TOWARD EACH OTHER AND HOLDING THE RIB ENGAGED IN THE CHANNEL. 